


take care

by thelittlefanpire



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Episode: s05e13 Damocles Part 2, F/M, Harper McIntyre Deserved Better, Marper - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-02-08
Packaged: 2019-10-24 14:21:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17705915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelittlefanpire/pseuds/thelittlefanpire
Summary: Based on the S5 Finale Video Logs in Harper's POV.





	take care

**Author's Note:**

> this is a love letter to Chelsea and Chris (and Shannon). The Green Family! their characters are the definition of Deserved Better, even though they did have such a beautiful sendoff in those finale moments of S5, I had to write it from Harper's POV. 
> 
> also inspired by [not_a_total_basket_case](https://archiveofourown.org/users/not_a_total_basket_case/pseuds/not_a_total_basket_case)'s piece, [Ours was a good life](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15626265), in Monty's POV.
> 
> I made myself cry buckets with this one, so get a mop for your tears and enjoy!
> 
> like always, I was writing up until the last minute so I'm sorry for any mistakes.

_04.25.2156_

 They watched the world end twice. Harper stood beside Monty looking out the window down at the earth. Eden was in flames. The sword of Damocles had wiped it out completely leaving their world in ruin. From space, the earth was dull and dusty. The last spot of green was disappearing before their eyes.

“It’s gone, guys,” Harper hears Bellamy’s voice faintly.

“Close it up, Shaw,” someone commands the pilot to close the window. She doesn’t look away until it’s completely sealed. She glances to Monty and then to the others gathered around. What were they going to do now?

Clarke and Bellamy address the group. Harper is only half-paying attention to what is said until Monty pulls out a glass container of algae. She smiles when she hears the others groan in disgust.

“Can I…?” Shaw interjects. He lets them know it will take at least ten years for Eden to be survivable again. There are a small water recycler and a few weeks of rations on the Eligius ship.

Cryo seems to be their only option and Bellamy looks to Madi to decide. Harper can’t imagine the weight the child must feel on her shoulders at this moment.

“I guess it’s time for bed,” the young Commander says sealing their fates.

Monty lets out a small sigh, only Harper can hear and puts his algae away. He gathers himself letting a mask slip over his features, but Harper catches it. Monty was looking forward to the promise of a life in space again.

The others leave the bridge to tell Wonkru and the Eligius crew the decision. Harper reaches for Monty’s hand and squeezes it tightly.

“I could use a nice long nap. Couldn’t you?” She tries to joke, but Monty is lost in his head now. She can see the wheels turning as he calculates.

“We could do more,” Monty whispers.

Harper looks at him with confusion.

“What if in ten years the earth still isn’t survivable? What will we do? Go back to sleep?” He asks and looks at the computers around them.

“Someone needs to stay awake to monitor the ground.”

There’s a determination in his voice and Harper lays her head on his shoulder. She knows what he’s thinking. She knows that he means to stay awake. To grow his algae. To monitor the earth and look after their friends. Harper isn’t going to let Monty do it alone though.

“Okay,” she agrees.

_04.26.2156_

After showers and a fresh pair of clothes, everyone makes their way to the Cryo Hall. Harper watches as Eligius inputs the biometric data on the pods. One by one they all climb in. It’s surprisingly uneventful given all they went through the last few days to get here.

Harper stands by her pod watching Clarke say goodnight to Madi, Bellamy tucks Octavia in, and then they look at one another.

Harper knows how unforgiving the earth was to them. How much was left unsaid? Harper remembers how Bellamy grieved for her during the six years in space. She hopes space can mend both their hearts this time.

“You ready?” Monty says. His hand hovers over her pod. Almost everyone around them is asleep but a few linger in the hall. Harper and Monty make a big scene of climbing into their pods but don’t shut them completely.

She holds her breath and counts to ten. The pod doesn’t frost over but it is cool against her skin. The pebbled pad under her back is soft and she sinks in. Her eyes flutter close and she imagines falling asleep.

Monty knocks on her pod before she does and she looks up at him through the glass.

“Come on, Sleeping Beauty. Let’s go look through our supplies.”

They spend the rest of the day rifling through the things brought from earth. Shifting through clothes and rations and random scraps, Monty says it should last them about six months with just the two of them. They leave the more suspicious rations and take their supplies back to the bridge.

“Plenty of time to get my algae farm up and running,” he grins at her. She lays out the clothes and shoes, some from Eligius and some from Wonkru. She plans on washing and mending them all for when everyone wakes up again.

“Let’s go check out the staterooms,” Harper tells Monty. They tiptoed down the halls of the Eligius IV ship that are eerily quiet now that they’re empty. Harper fumbles with Monty’s belt as they tumble into the Captain’s quarters.

_04.26.2157.06:30:01_

“There are fifty staterooms on the ship and Monty’s finally accessed all the passcodes to get into them, so...that passes the time,” Harper says into the video monitor cheekily.

It’s early in the morning and she left Monty in one of the many staterooms asleep. She had started keeping a video log a few weeks ago. After they had watched the Captain’s logs for the millionth time, Harper had decided to start a video diary of sorts for herself. For her sanity.

They had been up in space for a whole year. Their friends still slept under the ice of the cryopods. Monty’s algae had really taken off. He fully believed it tasted better than ever before, but Harper didn’t exactly agree. It still tasted musty and reminded her of the ground when she drank it. The rations had run out six months in like they thought they would and that gave the algae plenty of time to mature.

“Neither one of us passed out after we tried the algae for the first time,” Harper laughs as she thinks about Murphy. She misses his snark.

“And you probably would have cracked the passcodes faster,” she says thinking of Raven, imagining her and Monty racing against the clock on the computers to crack codes.

“Well, it’s been a year. The earth is still...dead. Um, yeah.”

Harper clicks off the video log and saves it under an inconspicuous file. She hasn’t recorded many messages but she doesn’t want Monty finding them. Space was harder than she thought it would be.

It got lonely and quiet giving her much time to reflect on things. She enjoyed her time with Monty, exploring the ship, but she missed her friends.

She makes her way to the armory where she spends a lot of her time. Cleaning the Eligius weapons, even though they have sat untouched for over one hundred years, is soothing to her. She breaks down the weapons and cleans out each part methodically. Bellamy had taught her how to it during their time as guards on Earth.

It’s after lunch when she's finished in the armory and she goes in search of food and Monty. Passing the last of humanity sleeping in the Cryo Hall, and the empty staterooms, she gets an idea. They needed something to take their minds off of the day.

She starts removing pieces of her clothing one by one. Sliding off her shoes first, then dropping her pants at the end of the hall, and finally flinging off her shirt as she enters the bridge.

“Monty, I’ve been waiting,” Harper calls to Monty who is sitting at the Captain’s desk like always. She’s too distracted to notice what he’s doing and picks up a discarded blanket wrapping it around herself.

“Harper, wait. I’m in the middle of— “

Harper slides up to him and plants a kiss on his cheek.

“You promised me,” she kisses him again letting the blanket fall down her arms. “We have another forty staterooms that— “

She glances at the computer screen noticing the _Recording in Process_ on the screen. She jumps out of the frame and laughs loudly.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” She says backing away and covering herself again.

“Uh...not a lot to do in space,” Monty clears his throats and shuts off the recording. He looks up at her sheepishly.

“Sorry, I thought it was something we needed to do. Keep a log of what’s happening on earth and to us,” Monty tries to explain. Harper smiles at him softly in understanding and slowly walks toward him.

“You’re forgiven,” she says and drops her blanket.

_11.15.2157.14:22:34_

 “I don’t know how I’m going to tell him. Monty’s thrown out two batches of algae after I threw them back up. I just can’t keep anything down right now. But...,” Harper lets out a big breath as she talks into the microphone on the computer.

She couldn’t manage to pull up the video recorder, not wanting any videos or reminders of how she looks right now. Her hair is limp and lacks its usual luster. Her face is pale and clammy.

“I’m pregnant,” she whispers. She closes her eyes and lays her head down on the desk.

She knew it wasn’t the algae on the third day. There were too many changes happening with her body and a lack of a cycle to clue her in. Harper is more surprised it hasn’t happened sooner. They spent a lot of time in those staterooms.

But it wasn’t something they had discussed. Pregnancy. A family.

She hadn’t thought about it on the Ark when she was a child. There wasn’t time to think about when they had first landed on the ground. Even on the ring for six years, she never talked about it with Monty. They had bigger goals and dreams.

Harper raises her head and slides her hand down over her abdomen. They’d been in space for over a year. They had nine more to go. It was the perfect time for it. When else would they have so much peace in this lifetime.

“We’re having a baby.”

_03.10.2158.15:15:09_

“Hey, again,” Monty says hurrying back into the frame. Harper cradles her growing stomach and Monty places a hand on her belly as they smile into the camera.

It had been easier than Harper thought to tell Monty about the baby. He was so relieved it wasn’t his algae that was making her sick. They found prenatal vitamins in the Eligius Med-Bay and Harper was feeling great in her third trimester. The baby could be there any day now.

Which was why they were filming the anniversary video a little early.

“Today’s the two-year anniversary of the long nap. Harper’s been eating a little too much algae.

“Hilarious,” she jokes. “Hey, guys, um, surprise.”

She throws out a hand exposing her bump to the camera. It looked like a basketball sitting on her stomach, even though she felt like a whale. She had sewn together with a pair of pants with extra flaps to accommodate her growing size.

“Ha! Oh, we picked a name today. Boy or girl—Jordan,” she says and looks at Monty. Both of their eyes are shining.

“I think Jasper would like that. Anyway, still no sign the ground is coming back. I wouldn’t expect it this soon, so, I’m not worried. We’ll check back in next time there’s news.”

Monty clicked off the video monitor.

“I’m going to go do some laps. The baby’s starting to kick all around,” Harper says quickly leaving Monty at the bridge.

“Okay, I’ll be around. Call out if you need me,” he says already distracted by the monitoring system for Earth.

Harper treks around the space station. It was something she had done before she was pregnant. To keep her in shape. To pass the time. Now it helps her prepare for her delivery, keeping her body healthy and her endurance up.

It also keeps her mind busy. Letting her work through things when she needed to. She had been thinking about Jasper a lot lately. Wishing he was there with them. Monty never fully healed from his loss and Harper had been the one to suggest naming the baby after him. To honor his memory.

The small practice contractions subside after a few laps and Harper finds herself in the Cryo Hall. She slows her pace and runs her fingers along the pods.

“Hey,” she says to her friends as she moves deeper into the room.

She stops in front of the pod that holds Abby Griffin. The woman looks restless in her frozen state. She had caused the most trouble going to sleep wanting to stay awake to look after Kane. He lays unconscious beside her still injured from Earth but suspended in limbo like everyone else.

Harper looks down at the doctor and thinks how easy it would be to have her here. To have help when she delivers the baby.

Her eye catches on another pod. _Diyoza_. She can see the swell of her belly through the glass.

“Maybe I could just be pregnant forever like you,” she says.

“And what, leave me all alone?” Harper jumps at the sound of Monty’s voice and turns around to face him. There are tears in her eyes she hadn’t noticed she’d been crying.

“I’m scared, Monty.”

“You’re going to be fine. I’ll be there to help you,” he says and pulls her in for a deep hug wrapping his arms around her center. She leans into him and they rock back and forth. The baby kicks and reminds Harper that with Monty by her side, she knows she can do anything.

_05.10.2158.15:20:16_

“Okay, Harper, it’s time to push.”

“Are you sure?” she breathes out.

“I can see the head. It’s time.”

Harper lets out a guttural scream that echoes around the space station. They were in the middle of a hallway not far off from the Cryo Hall. Harper had spent most of the last night tossing and turning as her contractions intensified. When it was morning, she flung the covers off and began walking around. She hadn’t made it very far before her water broke.

Monty had gathered blankets and water and whatever supplies he could find for her.

“Good job. Good job. And another one?” he encourages her. Every now and then he would glance in the direction of their friends. If anything went wrong, he was waking up Abby. He had promised her that.

Harper screams as another wave of contractions tears through her. There hadn’t been time for any kind of pain medicine so she was doing it all on her own. A few more pushes are needed and then Harper hears the sharp cries of her baby.

“It’s a boy! Harper, we have a son,” Monty exclaims proudly. He quickly catches the baby and lays him on her chest. Harper blows a piece of hair out of her face and lays back. She’s drenched in sweat and utterly exhausted.

“We did it,” she pants. Monty kisses her forehead and sweeps a hand over the baby’s cheek. “Does he look okay?”

“All ten fingers and toes. Good lungs. He’s perfect.”

Harper starts to cry with joy and snuggles her baby. Monty pushes down on her abdomen to help her deliver the placenta and cuts the cord severing the tie between the baby. He cleans up the hall as best he can and brings Harper more blankets. The baby starts to root around and she helps him to her breast.

Later on, Monty is able to help her back to a stateroom to rest and she dozes off. She can hear him talking into the video monitor as the baby fusses quietly.

“Meet Jordan Jasper Green. That’s all for now. Harper’s resting. We’re both good, though. He’ll be eight when you meet him.”

“I can’t wait to see your faces. Hi,” Monty says and Harper smiles imagining the grin that spreads across his face as he kisses their baby’s head.

And then she drifts off to sleep.

_11.30.2158.09:34:05_

“And we are six months old now!” Harper says and looks back at Jordan rolling around on the floor. “He’s almost got the crawling thing down and I don’t know what we’ll do with him then.”

Harper laughs as the baby blows raspberries at her. She blows one back and looks at the camera.

“The last few months have been a blur, honestly. Jordan just eats, sleeps, and poops. He’s finally okay with you sitting him down for a second. He takes up most of the bed. And if he gets one more tooth, I swear— “

On the video monitor, Harper can see Jordan push up on his knees and scout just an inch before falling back down.

“Oh, you did it, baby! Did you see that?”

“We’re completely in love with him. You should see Monty when he tells him bedtime stories.”

Harper lets the camera roll for a few more moments just watching her son play and then shuts it off.

  _05.10.2159.17:30:12_

“Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday, dear Jordan. Happy Birthday to you!” Harper and Monty sing loudly. 

“Look out! He’s walking and talking and one year old today!” Monty says lifting Jordan into the air. The toddler squeals and claps his hands.

“Okay, okay. Let the birthday boy eat some birthday algae now,” Harper jokes and Monty gives her a look.

“If I could get anything else to grow, you know I would.”

“I know. It’s fine. We can imagine that we grew carrots and made him a carrot cake. He’s not going to remember this anyway.”

_4.15.2165.11:03:57_

“Hey! I didn’t realize how long it’s been since I recorded one of these. The years have flown by and blended all together for me, I’m afraid. Jordan is turning seven this year. He’s getting so big." 

Harper can hear her son running down the halls kicking a soccer ball around. The boy has so much energy it’s hard to keep up with him sometimes.

“Nine years in space, so that’s um…” Harper trails off and takes a deep breath.

“The earth is still...not looking good. Monty says that’s to be expected. He spends a lot of time running scenarios and equations that I can’t begin to understand. But I know Monty.”

Harper looks out the window at the earth. It’s lifeless like every other day she’s stared at it for the past decade. Not a speck of green on the surface can be found.

“Um, we’ve been telling Jordan stories of everyone. He found the Cryo Hall a few weeks ago. He thought they were all dead!” Harper chuckles to herself remembering the look on Jordan’s face when he ran into her room. His face was as white as a sheet and she couldn’t understand a word he was saying.

“Monty figured it out first and we told him our friends were just sleeping.”

“I didn’t want him in there, but he started making up these crazy stories. You all fought dragons and slew aliens before you went to sleep. So we told him about you all. Murphy is his favorite.”

“I can’t wait for you guys to meet him. I hope...one day.”

_04.26.2166.14:30:03_

Harper doesn’t even try to get out of bed on the ten year anniversary. Monty had told her it wasn’t time to wake everyone up yet. Earth was still recovering. He avoids her eyes when he speaks. That’s how she knows.

Ten years. That was the goal. The end date. That was what she was signing up for as a caretaker on the ship.

But she knew, deep down, her feet would never touch the ground again.

_11.03.2184.08:00:01_

“So we all go into cryosleep,” Jordan suggests.

They were sitting around their dinner table after a steaming cup of algae and a rousing game of cards. The conversation had turned back to the same thing it always did these days.

“And then when we wake up and it’s still the same?” Monty asks his son. The older man stares into the eyes of the younger willing him to think as he did.

“Mom’s not getting any younger,” he throws out and Harper swats him on the ear with her playing cards.

“Hey, you may be an adult now, but I can still whip you,” she points at him and then sighs, “But he’s right. We're not getting any younger and the earth isn’t getting any greener, Mr. Green.”

The decision to go into Cryo had been weighing heavily on them for years now. Jordan was twenty-six, and Harper and Monty really were getting up there in age. It had been almost thirty years since the Long Nap began.

“I think we should start looking at other options,” Monty says slapping his cards down on the table.

“Which are?”

“The Eligius III file,” Monty states. Harper groans and Jordan begins to protest.

“This again? But Dad, it’s next to impossible. We haven’t even scratched the surface of that file. You said so yourself it would take Raven Reyes and Zeke Shaw to help you crack it. And it could still take the three of you a lifetime!”

 Jordan throws down his cards and throws up his hands in frustration.

“We could wake them up.” He hesitates to look up at his parents. Through the years, whenever he suggested waking someone up from Cryo he always got a stern scolding. He wanted to wake Madi up when he was younger so he would have someone to play with. Or Abby Griffin when his parents came down with a weird cold and were sick in bed for a week. Or Echo so she could teach him sword fighting.

“No,” both parents speak at the same time.

“We’re not doing that,” Monty pausing thinking over his next words carefully. “I think it’s time we put you in Cryo, Jordan.”

“What? No!”

“Monty…” Harper says.

“We choose this life. He didn’t. We can put him to sleep. Work on cracking the Eligius file. And wake him back up when it’s done.

“Why are you talking like you won’t be there when I wake up?” Jordan stands up from the table and Monty takes hold of Harper’s outstretched hand. Her heart beats wildly in her chest.

“I’ll leave clear instructions. You’ll know just what to do,” Monty says avoiding his questions.

They argue a little bit more over the decision until Jordan gives in. He can see the pros and cons of it. He was smart just like his father knowing it was the best thing for him to do. They had taught him how to be better. How to _do_ better.

Harper squeezes him tight against her in a bone-breaking hug. The Cryo Hall feels chiller than normal as Monty sets up Jordan’s pod.

“Don’t forget to tell me stories, Ma,” Jordan teases his mother and kisses the top of her head. He’s taller than her. He had been for years. How had she missed how fast her baby boy had grown into a man?

She picks at the lent on his shirt and runs her fingers over his shoulders and down his arms.

“I love you, baby.”

“I love you, too.”

He climbs into the pod as Harper and Monty stand over it. He waves goodbye and shuts his eyes as the pod closes and the glass begins to frost over.

“Oh, my God. That was hard,” she says sniffling and tucks a piece of short hair behind her ear. She hears the hiss of another pod opening behind her. She turns and faces Monty.

“I programmed one for you, too. You know I’ll have to crack the code by myself. No need for both of us to stay awake.”

“Monty Green, if you think I’m going in that thing without you, you are mistaken. I’m not leaving you until the light leaves my eyes and then you can float me yourself, okay?” Harper shuts the pod and pushes him out of the room.

“Come on, let’s get the video log up and running so we can leave those instructions for Jordan.”

They hadn’t recorded anything since the ten year anniversary. Not when there was nothing to report. Not when they didn’t have any answers to give. Not without any solutions.

Harper fiddles with her clothes. The Eligius shirt was worn and fraying at the sleeves. She worries about how gray her hair is and how old she would appear to her friends now. She was fifty now.

They had left messages on the computers for Jordan to wake Bellamy and Clarke up first. They had been the steady leaders throughout their lives and they would know what to do next.

Monty steps back and wraps his arms around her. She takes in a big shuddering breath and the recording button lights up.

“Hey, guys, it’s been a long time since we recorded one of these. We just put Jordan in cryo,” Monty says solemnly and Harper can feel him trembling. “He’s a good boy.”

“Smart like his father,” she says.

“And kind like his mom,” he quips back.

“We choose this life. He didn’t.”

Monty moves away from her getting closer to the camera and Harper is reluctant to let go of his hand as he addresses Jordan.

“Hey. If you’re watching this kiddo...we love you so much. Did you follow my instructions?”

Harper looks away from the computer, down at the ground, and up at Monty trying not to cry. They had just said goodbye to their son hours ago and now Monty was talking to him like they had died.

“Assuming he did. Hey, Bellamy. Hey, Clarke. We wanted him to wake you first so we could talk.”

“Earth...isn’t coming back. You’ve been asleep for over twenty-eight years and it’s as dead as the day we left.”

Harper’s stomach sinks at his words. It never got any easier to hear.

“I’m working on a Plan B though.” Monty looks away from the screen quickly and composes himself. She squeezes his hand in encouragement. “And if you’re awake, that means I found it.”

“I’ll see you again when I do.”

His words are final and he goes to turn off the recording, but Harper throws out her hand to stop him.

“Wait. Not yet,” she says desperately.

She looks into the camera imagining Clarke and Bellamy’s faces. Her heart aches to see them again. She imagines Jordan’s bright grin and how she may never see it again in her waking days. Her chest heaves.

“Take care of our boy.”

  _2184-2205_

It’s hard at first, without him. It takes days to get used to him not being around. When she wakes, she wanders the halls searching for him until she lands in the Cryo Hall.

She always cries when she sees him asleep in his pod.

It takes longer for her not to mention him to Monty like he’s just away on some mission or mad at them sulking in another part of the ship like he did when he was a teenager.

Monty just smiles when she catches herself.

”It’s okay, Harper. Go down and talk to him.”

She leaves him to his files. Desperate now to crack the Eliguis III file before it’s too late, he rarely leaves his post. He falls asleep in the Captain’s chair and eats his algae at his desk.

She pulls a chair up next to Jordan’s pod and tells him stories of her friends and family like she had when he was a boy. About her life on the Ark, on Earth, and the Ring. She talks about falling in love with his father. She talks about the little boy who lived among the stars and who would travel the galaxy one day.

That was the theory Monty would be working on in the years following. The third ship that took off before the first apocalypse was on a mission for oil, but the question was, did it make it? Where did it go?

When Monty’s eyes grow tired and his hands stiff, he wanders after her. Always finding her asleep by Jordan’s pod. Much like he wouldn't leave the bridge, Harper wouldn't leave Jordan. They were a stubborn pair in their old age.

And then one day Clarke’s prediction comes true. Harper gets the same genetic condition as her father...

“I don’t know how to make this damn thing work,” Harper says angrily clicking the buttons on the computer screen. It had been months since she recorded anything.

“Jordan,” she calls out. “Jordan! Come in here and help me!”

“Harper, what are you doing?” It’s Monty, not her son who enters the room. It must be late because he’s dressed in his pajamas. The Eligius symbol is all but faded on his chest.

“What did you do to your shirt? It looks old as hell.”

“It is. I’ve been wearing it for the last thirty years,” Monty looks at her curiously.

“That’s absurd. Where’s Jordan? I want to make a video thing.”

“He’s asleep,” Monty says and gives her no more explanation, but guides her back to their room. She forgets all about it in the morning.

Harper starts to forget a lot of things.

She forgets where she’s going getting lost in the maze of halls on the ship. Monty strings up a path for her with bright rope.

She forgets what she’s saying in the middle of a conversation repeating words and questions. Monty has to repeat to her often that the Earth is dead and he’s almost cracked the Eligius file. She calls out for Jordan and the others.

One day, he catches her near an airlock peering out a window looking at the dark space. She tells him she’s looking after Emori on her spacewalk.

He can’t deny what’s happening to her anymore. Her mind is gone and soon her body will follow.

He sets up a small computer in the Captain’s quarters so he can watch after her. There’s a small window they can look out and down at their earth. It’s still as dead as the day they started this journey. Now, Monty is determined to end it. To save them before it’s too late.

_02.08.2206.10:22:07_

“Monty, tell me a story,” Harper commands one morning while they lay in bed together. He sets the computer down. He had cracked the Eligius III mission file finally and was pouring over its contents trying to gain as much knowledge as he could about the planet with two suns. He takes her hand in his and starts.

“Once upon a time, there was a girl who lived among the stars...” Harper closes her eyes listening to the cadence of his voice.

“She fell down to the ground and met a boy.”

“No, tell me about the girl with the gun,” she swats at him playfully and he laughs.

“Okay. A girl fell down to the ground, picked up a gun, and learned how to survive. She fought monsters and chased away all her demons.”

“And her heart?”

“Ah, her heart was her greatest weapon, though. She loved the world so fiercely. She was loyal to her friends. She did what was right, even if it wasn’t always easy.”

“She showed everyone how to live.”

“Oh, how she lived,” Harper adds. Monty’s eyes fill with tears at her words and nods even if Harper doesn’t notice.

“And you cracked the code?” she asks him. Monty smiles. He hadn’t seen Harper this lucid in years. Her eyes are watery and gray as she stares at him.

“Yes, ma’am. I did.”

“Good. You cracked the code,” she says smiling back at him and closes her eyes again. Her breath is shallow and her skin is paling.

“Hey, don’t leave me here all alone by myself,” he tries to joke.

“I’ll see you soon, but you save our friends first,” Harper whispers.

Monty pulls her body to him tightly feeling the last of her warm breaths on his neck. He feels the beats of her heart slow its pace and then stop completely. Her body goes limp, but he doesn’t let go of her for what feels like forever.

  
Eventually, he closes her eyes with his steady hands. The hands of a farmer who had tilled the earth and made nothing grow into something up in space. The hands that held the woman he loved at her weakest and her loneliest. The steady hands of a genius who had spent years cracking a code to save the human race. The hands that provided _home_.  
  
His hands only shake as he carries her out to the airlock. He floats her out into the unknown as she wanted.

  
And his voice is steady as he says the Traveler’s Prayer, “ _In peace, may you leave this shore. In love, may you find the next. Safe passage on your travels, until our final journey to the ground. May we meet again.”_  
  
It only shakes when he says, _”I love you, Harper. May we meet again.”_

 

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! let me know your thoughts!
> 
> follow me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/Little_Fanpire) and [tumblr](https://thelittlefanpire.tumblr.com)! more Harper Appreciation can be found at [#HarperMcIntyreWeek](https://www.tumblr.com/search/harpermcintyreweek). :)


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